This NBC story is getting traction, and NBC knew it would get traction, because they want to milk the "cops are bad, America is racist" hustle for all it's worth.
Readers of our sister site, The Babylon Bee, know how most people don't read past the headlines. Heck, getting you just to click through on this article took some effort.
NBC's headline is this:
"A mother reported her son missing in March. Police kept the truth from her for months."
Sounds pretty damning, and with the framing of the black mother in the featured photo, you know exactly what they are selling you.
Here's what happened before I show you just how horrible corporate media is:
- Dexter Wade was a 37-year-old man with children of his own, but separated from his ex and kids and living with his mother. He was a convicted criminal, with sentences for auto theft and armed robbery.
- Shortly after 8 p.m. on March 5, 2023, he was high on PCP and meth and decided - for whatever reason - to walk across a highway. An off-duty officer hit him as he walked across the road. It was deemed an accident and the officer passed sobriety tests.
- Wade had no ID on him, but police investigator LaGrand Elliott found a prescription and called the issuing pharmacy on March 8 to track down his identity. He then called the mother and left a voicemail for her after identifying her as Wade's next of kin.
- The investigator passed the file to the Jackson Police Department on March 9 after fingerprints confirmed Wade's identity.
- On March 14, the mother reported Wade missing. On March 15, the investigator followed up with Jackson PD. The investigator continued to follow up, but for some reason, Jackson PD didn't connect the dots. The Jackson PD missing persons investigator assigned to the case retired in August; two weeks later, the new investigator reported that Wade had been buried at the county's penal farm with other unclaimed bodies.
Those are the facts, as reported by NBC.
But NBC buries those details in thousands of words of text.
Instead, they framed it like this:
It wasn't until 172 excruciating days after his disappearance that Bettersten learned the truth: Dexter had been killed less than an hour after he'd left home, struck by a Jackson police car as he crossed a nearby interstate highway. Police had known Dexter's name, and hers, but failed to contact her, instead letting his body go unclaimed for months in the county morgue.
Readers primed to see police as hateful ✅
Growing up in Jackson, Dexter was a "sweet little boy," sharp with computers, a leader among classmates, a lover of nice clothes, a dreamer who hoped one day to run his own business refurbishing old cars.
That went awry in his teens, when he "got lost" under the influence of older men who stole cars and did drugs, Bettersten said.
Violent serial criminal framed as the victim. ✅
But prison had clearly damaged him. "You could look in his eyes and see he wasn't the same person," Thomas said. "I could tell he was struggling mentally."
American justice system framed as oppressive and racist. ✅
Dexter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, Bettersten said. After starting medication, he decreased his illegal drug intake and stayed at home most of the day, cleaning and taking care of the yard. He liked to give homemade ice pops to kids on their street, handed food to people who didn't have homes and occasionally sold sodas and chips in the neighborhood. He rarely left the house for more than a day or two without calling, Bettersten said. He never showed signs of wanting to hurt himself.
Violent serial criminal portrayed as gentle giant. ✅
The decision to call the police was difficult for Bettersten. She did not trust them. In 2019, her 62-year-old brother died after a Jackson officer slammed him to the ground. The officer was convicted of manslaughter but is appealing.
Mother portrayed as victim of America's institutional racism. ✅
Then the pièce de résistance, what NBC was working up to this whole time:
"They had me looking for him all that time, and they knew who he was," Bettersten said.
She wondered if it had anything to do with her brother's death and her allegations against the police in that case. "Maybe it was a vendetta. Maybe they buried my son to get back at me," she said.
Idea that police are the bad guys cemented. ✅
This is why I hate the corporate media.
They are lying to you with glossy, embellished stories. This was indeed a tragedy. There was no mention of Dexter's father in this entire piece (though I'm not supposed to notice that). Dexter was a violent man who showed baseline common decency at times and suffered the mental effects of a fatherless, criminal, addicted life. He needed better men to guide him. But as a nearly-40-year-old man, he wasn't a boy. He stole cars and forcefully robbed people. This was his own fault and not the fault of "oppression" or "trauma."
He died because he was on PCP and meth and walked in front of a car.
My heart goes out to the mom, but this shouldn't be a national news story. If there was intentional negligence on the part of Jackson PD, yes, of course, but this is all speculation.
Let me repeat:
She wondered if it had anything to do with her brother's death and her allegations against the police in that case. "Maybe it was a vendetta. Maybe they buried my son to get back at me," she said.
NBC included this in a story about wild accusations!!
Elliott said he called the number listed for Bettersten in the facility's records and left a voicemail but got no response. Bettersten confirmed that the number Elliott said he called was correct, but she doesn't remember receiving a call from him, and was not able to access her Boost Mobile phone records to check.
A major national news outlet couldn't be bothered to check the phone records of a forgetful elderly woman in their piece inferring criminal, racist negligence on the behalf of an entire police department??
But it doesn't matter. People don't read past the headlines, and the headline did its work.
So the next time you see a conservative account post what seems like a "callous" summary like this:
Understand that it is a response to the media that wants to use our emotions to spread lies.
My prayers go out to this family, especially Dexter's children.
But may corporate media die the quick death it deserves.
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
